'Old Fogy' rules of play, 1836

In 1836, New Orleans, one of the most important cities in America for gambling repealed the licence law regarding licensed gambling houses within the city. This lead to the bankers changing some of the rules of play in faro to increase the odds in their favor, to weed out fair play gambling in the city, and to grow a crooked hive of gambling dens that cheated players drawn to this gambling Mecca. There is no name for these rules per se. John Morris, in his book Wanderings of a Vagabond, uses the description of 'old fogy' to denote that these rules are out of fashion and unfair. He implies that the gambling world followed what was practiced in the Big Easy and that some of these rules may have been common for a time as a result. As mentioned elsewhere, faro was not played uniformly everywhere, but there were regional differences and even differences from one house to the next.

These rules follow the rules set forth in this section with the following exceptions: 

• • Cases were not to be kept, meaning that players could not keep track of what cards had been pulled. It also made wise betting difficult since betting on cards with less denominations remaining meant less of a chance of a split, which favored the house. No case keepers or cue cards made it easier to cheat the players since inserting an extra card and a two card deck could manipulate the lose/win in favor of the bank. Morris indicates that even as late as 1859, keeping cue cards in New Orleans was discouraged.

  • Bets placed on the layout were left there until action is made on them, so once placed, an unsettled bet that neither won or lost cannot be picked up or even moved until it lost or won. Restricting the options of the players could make turns faster but not necessarily more enjoyable.

  • Running limits were part of faro nation-wide, not just in Louisiana. This system limited how much money could be wagered on a single bet and the paroli (the bet plus any additional winnings). This practice will have its most ardent champions in the "Old Fogy" system as the "open limit game" of faro started to take over after a few years. 

  •  The worst change was the return of "hockelty". The hock is the last card in a faro deal. Since in the latter part of the 19th century "calling the turn" became an accepted and unique aspect of the game of faro, the last card of a deal was hardly worth consideration. But before "calling the turn" became part of the game, the deal went to the end of the deck. The soda card offsets the deck to deal oddly leaving a single card at the end of the deal - the hock - and any bets remaining on the layout and on the hock card were collected by the dealer. Combined with the new rule of not touching an unsettled bet made the hock particularly bitter to punters.

But since some aspects of play were not yet developed playing in the Old Fogy manner would have also been playing without a dealer box. Under the old license law, these were viewed with suspicion. So depending, a faro game in New Orleans after 1836 may or may not be dealt from a dealer box, but probably from the dealer's hand as it had been done, or in a stack faced down. However, not just in New Orleans, but all faro games nation-wide would also have similar rules:

• • Copper betting was part of the original form of faro when it was called "opposé" from the French terms. If a punter wished to bet on the banker's card (the losing card) they would have needed to inform the banker that they wished to place a "flyer" as a kind of side bet. To differentiate this bet from all the other bets it was marked, and a copper penny eventually became the method of showing that this bet was a flyer and soon became part of the game. However, at this point, in 1836 until about 1845 when it was reintroduced in the North, this kind of bet was not part of the regular game and the dealer could refuse to honor such a request even as late as 1856.

  • As mentioned before, "calling the turn" was not yet developed and if hock was not part of the game, the soda card could be dispensed with and the deal was over with the last pair, otherwise the hock was treated as a dead card like the soda.

  • The running limit was all over the US. Morris indicates that an average game might have a limit of "six and a quarter". This meant that this was the limit that any bet could not exceed $6.25. The paroli limit was also added to control how much money got piled on the bet. For example, a bet of $6.25 was placed on an ace and won (total $12.50). If the player elected to keep the bet and the winnings in the exact same spot they would double their money again (paroli). If the punter moved the bet and winnings it would have to be limited to $6.25 again. Let us say that the unmoved bet wins again, the total becomes $25. If it won again, it would be $50. It cannot win anymore since there are four suits per denomination. But if the bet was split, the number could continue to increase. Suddenly this bet threatens to break the bank. So to limit that potential, the paroli limit usually ends at the second win; in this example, the limit is $6.25 and $25. The open limit of faro develops out of the Northeast and from California to  eventually replace the running limit.The no limit placed a basic limit, $5 for example, and did not restrict the paroli.

  • The older French terms of the game are going out of style by this time but may still be around.

It is not known exactly when this 'Old Fogy' system finally fell into disuse, but keep aware of what the rules are before you engage in play.